If you were to die tomorrow, could you tell the world you really lived? Did you really live life or were you sleeping the entire time; feeling as if you were awake?Don’t take me so literally either. Take away your trips, your degrees, your career, your spouse, your children and your materials. How would you live? What would make you feel alive? What would make life worth living for? If you can’t tell me, then I think it’s safe for me to say that you haven’t really lived.

Do you forgive those that hurt you? Do you apologize to those you’ve wronged? Do you tell the truth even when it’s hard? Do you speak up even if your voice shakes? Do you give your last dollar to the person that ask? Do you shut down negative conversations or gossip? Do you support your friends? Do you create? Do you multiply the fruits you’ve received by teaching others? Do you serve others with no desire for gain? If you answer yes, then you have lived, even if it was just for a moment..

On the contrary I can easily say we all have experienced death.

Now let me ask this. Have you ever felt guilt? Ashamed? Betrayed? Lied to? Angry? Jealous? Depressed? If you answer yes, then I think it’s fair to say you have experienced death. Death by the second definition can be personified as “the power that destroys life”. So let’s just say to be simple: death, is the power that destroys life and in art and film we get to see what that could look like visually.

Often we hear the wages of sin is death(Romans 6:23). When we hear that, we think, physically being dead. And so, we go on day to day not paying attention to how this simple line is so powerful. We all know we will die, so when that line is received and received literally, there is no sense of urgency to “flee from sin”. People kind of think: “well we all will die, I might as well do what I want.”

However, death in this sentence is talking about: “The power that destroys life”. What is life? Charity, service, love, forgiveness, mercy, courage, and truth. Anyone who has ever followed their heart, knows that they were really alive when they exercised the above acts and emotions.

The world, the enemy wants us to be in a constant state of death. That way we are always controlled by lower frequency emotions and deeds; never reaching our highest potential. The god in us. We were created in the image of God and so we have the ability to channel the Creator’s energy.

The problem is many people despise God because they fear the Lord is a judgmental God. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The Lord is always and will always be a God of love, mercy and justice. Yes, the rain falls on the just and unjust(Matthew 5:45), but the Lord never forgets the just. That is, if they remain steadfast in His ways.

Let me prove that to you and then I will wrap up:

In the beginning we hear of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were in the garden of Eden (by definition Eden means: “paradise”) . They had everything they wanted and more, but disobeyed God’s one law. As a result, were cast out of the garden. The reasoning? Because they wanted to know “good and evil.” Think about it. God gives them a paradise(love, responsibility, relaxation, peace. All good, no evil…God gave them life). But instead they chose to receive knowledge of good and evil, they chose to disobey, they symbolically chose death and willingly incorporated evil into their lives.

Knowledge is painful, naiveté can be peaceful. But Adam and Eve wanted to “be like God” (Gen 3: 4-5) and followed their ego(the thing that gets many people in trouble). In the end of the story God cast them out( took away their paradise. Don’t think so literal on this one either..it just means He took away their peace), but He doesn’tkill them and He uses their story to set up another scene.

Fast forward we hear of his son Yahushua (Jesus , whatever is your preference , the story is more important) being sent down to earth to save “lives”. He is a man directly from God, who walked the earth in flesh while enduring many challenges and trials daily. He experienced so much pain, even up to His literal death. After dying, 3 days later He rose again, revealed Himself to believers, and returned to a place others “could not go.” His disciples then spread His life story around the world and Yahushua’s Holy Spirit was with them as they endured many trials that came with sharing this message of love and sacrifice.

This was all done, so that people today, in their trials and test, could have an advocator, a empathizer. In the Bible it mentions that God hears the cry of the righteous, why? Because His Son was one that would cry out for deliverance. His Son was the example , His Son received no special treatment. His Son just like us today suffered from the world. His Son was, in the end glorified and given the responsibility to comfort the suffering since He understood.

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When people hear that story once again they take it literally. But it isn’t all literal. Whether you are a believer or not. The story is beautiful and teaches beautiful life lessons:

God(The creator) intends for us to experience good, it is usually our choices that bring the symbolic death into our seasons. Despite this, God will always be merciful to us even when we choose death. God took Adam’s mistake and used it to glorify Adam, Yahushua and Himself. Adam was reproved but never erased from history. He still received glory as the “first man” Adam’s story lead to Yahushua’s story and Yahushua’s story lead to God’s glory. God truly wants everyone to win. His “way is always perfect” (Psalm 18:30)

When one experiences death, they have an opportunity to die, to be dead. By definition dead means: Having lost sensation; numb. No longer current, relevant, or important. Complete; absolute. When we have death in our seasons (troubling times, trials, hardships,) we have an opportunity to be dead in the flesh, dead to the things that are troubling us, taking our focus, taking our life. Our temptations, problems, past, and mistakes are no longer: current, relevant or important. If we decide to embrace this state of deadness, the Lord will raise us up and bring us into a new life of peace, a new life in Eden, a new life that is “complete and absolute”. (2 Corinthians 4:16-17)

But to experience Eden we must take up our own cross daily and surrender to our new mission . Like Yahushua who humbly accepted and surrendered to suffering, we too must do this so that our pain can heal others also (2 Corinthians 1:3-7). Yahushua paved the path for us. It is now our duty to walk a similar path until we experience the painful death that comes from the rejection and interactions with the world; this death leads to our dead flesh. This “dead” flesh makes room for new life. ( 2 Corinthians 4:10-14)

All in all, it really does work out for good to them that love God and are the calledaccording to His purpose. (Loving God and choosing life is the key to success in this world.) God will make sense of everything you went through and currently are going through, IF you trust in Him. However, your faith has to be unconditional, it has to be faith that is built by you personally. It must be faith that is built on the stories in the Bible, the testimonies you hear from others, the second chances God gave you. Your faith has to be built on God’s Word, not your preacher’s word. You have to be convinced that what you’ve experienced in the past has never truly held you back from your future. You have to know that as long as you’ve been doing the right things you are ok and things will work out, if you aren’t.. stop now and make things right. You have to have crazy faith because if you depend on current conditions or what things look like physically, you will be discouraged. However, when you know this truth, you are able to truly live knowing that your pain was considered and someone endured it too just like you. If you surrender to this truth you will be rewarded with peace.

So when people tell others to give their life to Christ what I believe they are saying is: choose a life that you would be proud of . Make decisions that don’t boost your ego or benefit you only. Truly live for someone other than yourself. Go out there and truly live and seek God, build a relationship with Him and His Son because when trials hit and no one is in your corner, His Word and His love for you, once truly discovered, will fill you up like no one, thing or title can.